We're Still Here
by grey987
Summary: Four performers and an establishment which sparkle during the day. Four performers and an establishment shrouded in shadows during the night. No one knows what goes on at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza when the moon rolls around... and there's a reason why they don't. Because when that moon rolls around, insanity reigns within. (Rated T for coarse language, suggestive themes and violence.)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well, well, _well...  
_**

 **Who would've thought that I'd be "back from the dead"? (People who've read my popular "Heaven's Lost Property" fanfiction and its sequel will understand what I mean by this) Well, I am, and this is how I plan on making my return: with an absolutely _glorious_ "Five Nights at Freddy's" fanfic.**

 **Alright, so here's the deal: first and foremost, elements of this story have taken inspiration from Seasons 2 and 3 (the third being one that is still ongoing) of Zajcu37's FNAF animation series. I'm aware that some of you love it, and some of you hate it so much that you wish the very game itself which spawned those animations would suddenly cease to exist (and to be fair, this fandom has spawned some pretty horrific things... in a very different sense than the terror that you experience when you play the very first game, because let's be honest: the other 3 are not all that scary in comparison). Well, if you're a person reading this who happens to hate those animations, then that's too bad, because there's stuff in them that I actually really enjoy (to be fair though, the shipping is not really one of them). However, this doesn't mean that there will be a heavy reliance upon it; I'm just saying that I'm drawing a little inspiration from it and will put my own little twist on it to make it unique.**

 **Secondly, to accommodate for (possible) romance between characters and to give this story a much more gritty feel to it, _the animatronics will be humanized,_ meaning that they will now take on a human form as opposed to being... well, you know what they originally are. I can't really make this as complex as I want to if I keep the cast in their initial forms (it'll just end up being cartoonish and ultimately ridiculous), so that's why I'm giving them the form of actual people. Don't worry: their appearances and backstories will be realistic enough to make their existence in this kind of incarnation sensible.**

 **And... Oh yeah, one more thing: please do not expect chapters to be frequently updated. I'm currently very busy in real life with multiple different things, and thus will not be able to deliver chapters at a rapid pace. However, I won't let it take any longer than a month or two for me to update the story.**

 **Okay, that's it for now. Thank you for bearing with this long Author's Note (in the case of which you have), and I hope you enjoy this first chapter. Feel free to review/follow/favorite when you're done.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER ONE: AN ELEGANT FINISH  
LOCATION: FREDDY FAZBEAR'S PIZZA  
YEAR: 1987**

* * *

"So... What exactly _is_ this thing, anyway?"  
"Just don't touch it. I'd hate for us ta' have ta' explain to the manager why his property ended up in tatters."  
"Whatever you say, 'O Mighty Pirate Fox."  
"I told ya' already, Bonnie. 'Foxy' will do."

Leant against the counter by the Prize Corner was a boy with a slightly lanky stature and long but straight purple hair which was draped over the left side of his face, adorning a purple dress shirt with its sleeves rolled up and a red bowtie attached to its collar, a pair of black dress pants and a pair of black dress shoes over his general form. His magenta-colored eyes (which were really just contacts) were fixated on a blue box with purple stripes made to make it look as though it were a ribbon for it, and the copper-colored eyes of a redhead leant against the wall the aforementioned box was up against did the same. In contrast, he wore a _white_ dress shirt with an intricate, unbuttoned burgundy tunic draped overtop, a pair of tan cargo pants, a set of black laced boots for his feet and an eye patch which veiled his right eye. He ran the edge of a hook on his right hand along the stubble of his chin, thoughtfully gazing upon the box with his one open eye and wondering what exactly it contained. It was a recent addition to the location, and nobody except for the establishment's staff members knew anything of it except for that it was "a surprise". It was certainly enough to keep the kids who went there in suspense... and the performers of the pizzeria were also intrigued to find out what exactly this was supposed to be.

"Tch. Imagine if all that's in this box is just another batch of these dumb toys..." Bonnie scoffed with a shake of his head, looking distastefully back at all the plushies lined up on shelves behind him before resetting the position of his eyes over to Foxy. "I mean, can you even _believe_ how popular those things are? I don't even know where the hell they got the extra inspiration from, but now they've turned us into animals. _Animals._ Like... You kiddin' me right now? Why in God's name do I have to be a _bunny?_ Why not something cooler, like a dragon?"

"Because ya' ain't cool enough ta' be represented as a dragon, matey," Foxy retorted with a teasing grin, to which his purple-haired (and purple-dressed) friend responded with yet another shake of his head and a sigh. The redhead's typical deep accent was ever-present as always, apparently destined to never go away...

"I dunno; I'm calling bullshit, is all I'm saying. By the way, remind me again: why do you _always_ feel the need to talk like a pirate...? Isn't that just your get-up for when we're up onstage? You don't always need to be like one, you know. Not to mention your name. Here I am performing with my normal one because I didn't want anybody changing my name for anything, yet you and the other two are always sticking with your stage names... You know your real name, don't you? Isn't it unne-"

"Can it. That's just who I am. I like being a pirate. If you 'ave a problem with it, I can walk ye off tha' plank."  
"That's not even a metaphor that makes sense..."

Foxy was still, against all odds, being dead serious about what he was saying. Well, about whatever he was saying when he mentioned a nonexistent plank. The gentle yet piercing glare now written into his facial expression said it all, and Bonnie had to resist the urge to shudder when he noticed it before looking away and turning his attention back down to the box. Unfortunately, he couldn't seem to get anyone around here to cheer up in the slightest... Sure, they all had smiles on their lips and were generally energetic when they went around tending to the many families who came to eat at the pizzeria. But that was not the same as having something authentic in that sense... Something that wasn't forced just for the sake of making _other_ people smile. During closing hours when they stayed here- since there was no place else for them to go- they all seemed relatively gloomy and reluctant to do anything that might bring their spirits up even by a little. They all- childhood friends since they knew how to speak- had shared a rough past brought about by a cruel twist of fate. It had a lasting effect on them all, and being in character here was really the only thing they knew how to do in order to escape the memory of it all. Bonnie was the last one who was trying his absolute hardest to pretend that what had happened to them never existed and make some light out of their current situation... It really was hard when they were all so bleak. When they all had a dead and weary kind of look in their eyes when the night came around. They usually never slept. They usually _couldn't_ sleep. They were mostly awake and restless throughout...

Sometimes, they felt a little crazy and went a little crazy. Even Bonnie would do that sometimes.

"... Seriously, though. I wanna open this box."  
"Bonnie, I swear, ya' suggest that ta' me one more time and I'll-"

Foxy was cut off and was forced to jump back when the box in question suddenly popped open, and began to play a quick and flowery yet eerie kind of tune. With the pirate boy's fists raised into a fighting stance, Bonnie stood from afar with a now frightened expression on his face as he began to frantically wonder _what the hell was really in this mysterious-ass box._ It didn't take long for him to finally receive his answer...

And he damn near shit his pants when he saw what came out of it.

First, five black-gloved fingers opened up and then closed around the front edge of the box. Then, very slowly rose an immediately frightening-looking figure who had an imposing height, spiky black hair and a creepy looking mask that had rosy cheeks, printed lipstick, two straight purple lines on the inner segment just beside the circular blushes and a netted mouth and eyes that made both areas appear to be pure black on the inside. As for the thing's clothing, it sported a white-buttoned black jacket that was done up and had its sleeves rolled up to its forearms, an apparent under-sweater with a zebra-like pattern, and a pair of black dress pants. It had just been so out of the blue, and neither one of the two young men were certain of what to make of it. Was it human? They didn't know. Did it look threatening?

 _Hell fucking **yes.**_

And it didn't help that the stupid music was still playing in the background from the box, either. While it continued, the strange thing (no, seriously; what were they even supposed to call it?) slowly cocked its head to the left to lay its 'eyes' upon Foxy to begin with, and then it turned its head in the other direction at the same agonizing pace to look at Bonnie for a much longer time. "U-Uh... You mind i-if you stop staring at me like that, pal...?" he spoke nervously, stuttering a little with his speech as he lifted up the index finger of his right hand to pull the collar of his shirt away from his throat and give himself some more breathing space that he felt had been minimized significantly. "I-I don't know if you can hear me, but... it'dbemuchappreciated."

"... _Bonnie._ "  
"The fuck-?!"

The voice which spoke the name of the purple-haired boy came out as an ominous kind of whisper that didn't seem to have any set masculinity nor feminism, wafting out in a silently distorted kind of form akin to a phantom. It scared Bonnie absolutely senseless, and he could already feel goosebumps travelling up his arm from the thought of how this thing already knew its name. The pirate performer had the same kind of surprise come his way a little while afterwards.

"... Foxy."

The voice was more settled this time, but still gave no indication towards a male or female origin. It was just... there. A tone with a baseline, but no real clarity. Just shrill noises here and low rumbles there. The redhead slowly lowered his hands and backed away as he looked up at the tall figure in awe, unable to believe what he was seeing with his own two eyes. It seemed to be... more than sentient. Almost extraterrestrial. There was no real determining what this thing was just by having a look at its exterior. They'd have to pry into the attire in order to find out for sure, but something told him that it wouldn't be happening anytime soon, if at all. The last thing he wanted was to cause any trouble with him, Bonnie and their new grandiose guest here in the Prize Corner.

"... What are ye, exactly...?" The answer to Foxy's inquiry was straightforward, unhurried and not at all delayed. Just a simple word for him and Bonnie to call it by.

"... Puppet."

* * *

"Always a washroom kind of gal, I see."  
"... Anyone ever tell you that it's improper for a man to enter the _women's_ restroom?"  
"As if there's anything else you do here besides sit and canoodle that plastic cupcake of yours. Besides, there's no one else here but you. It's perfectly fine."

The smallest of smiles graced the blonde girl's naturally pink lips at her friend's retort, lowering her purple-colored eyes (which were also contacts like Bonnie's) down to her jean-covered knees with an almost disbelieving shake of her head. Freddy somehow managed to just be so ridiculous sometimes, even more than their purple-haired companion. But, still... it was a welcome kind of ridiculousness. Chica had always been the worst off, more so than Foxy (who had been hit significantly hard with the psychological trauma that they all were forced to cope with). She exhibited the oddest kind of behaviours of the four, and was the most prone to losing her grasp on reality and falling over the edge into near-utter madness. She detested it so much, and that just made her mental state even worse when she wasn't so busy putting on a show for all of those screaming and loudly laughing children. Everything was just so... rattling. She only had the guys to fall upon in moments where she felt like any hope for hanging on any longer was lost. And even as little as it assisted her, little assistance was still much better than no assistance at all.

The brunette boy with straight kempt hair below a black top hat, eyes that matched its color, a chestnut vest with a white undershirt beneath it, black dress pants and black dress shoes eventually went to go and sit beside the girl with a yellow jacket, white t-shirt underneath and brown cowboy-like boots with a heavy exhale, just staring up at the ceiling for a lack of anything better to do with his time as of present.

"So what kept you busy tonight, 'Mr. Fazbear'?"  
"... I had another fit, I think. I vaguely remember being shut out by that night-watchman in the office."  
"Mm... I hate that guy. Do we know his name?"  
"Hm... Something Fitzgerald, I think. That's at least what I think I heard during the day, one time."  
"Right. Well, fuck Fitzgerald."  
"Yeah, fuck Fitzgerald."

Having a night-watchman monitor just about their every move was agitating when pondered about, to say the least. Of course, their occasional 'switches in mood' were exactly why one was put in place, to avoid having anything damaged while they went through their bouts... The measurement didn't at all stop them from taking place, though. In fact, it made it so that whoever was in charge of watching them would often become the target of their faltering consciences. So far, there'd already been an instance of... well, the previous person who had been put up for the task suddenly 'going missing' overnight. The establishment had expectedly covered up the event, and in turn, there wasn't any blame put upon them by the public for it.

"... Do you ever just feel like leaving? Running away from all this?" The sudden question made Freddy turn his head so he could look at Chica, made curious by her suggestion.

"You want to stop being here?"

"I'd be lying if I said that I didn't," Chica responded with a nonchalant shrug, parting her lips to let out a soft breath. "It's overwhelming sometimes, you know...? Having to put up with this persona of mine that I know isn't me... Well, that isn't me anymore, and... I just... I don't know. It gets to me. It grates on my nerves, and I just can't take it sometimes. Don't get me wrong, it's fun being here with you guys... but... that's why I want you all to come with me. To just leave all this behind and finally start fresh somewhere else."

"You know just as well as I do that we have nowhere else to go, Chica," Freddy told her with an even-levelled voice. "This is all we have to fall back on, now. I know it's pretty overwhelming sometimes, believe me, but we just can't stop doing all this. This is _home,_ now. This is what... keeps us _alive._ This is what keeps us from living in the world with _fear._ "

"But that's just it," Chica interjected with a voice that briefly turned sharp as she looked up at him. "I don't _want_ to be confined by all of this. I still want to _feel_ something other than this... this... _emptiness_ that keeps eating away at me. I want us to st- _What the fuck?!_ " Both Freddy and Chica jumped up at the same time after witnessing a tall, mostly black entity gradually saunter its way into the restroom, alerted by the abrupt unfamiliar presence that intruded on them while they had been having a heart to heart discussion. Following closely behind were Foxy and Bonnie, the latter of whom continued to maintain a fair enough distance as to keep at least some semblance of comfort, despite knowing that there (presumably) was no harm intended by this creature of unknown origin.

"G-Guys...? Explain! _Now!_ " Freddy yelled, backed up tightly against the wall with wide eyes as he stared up at the humongous thing before him. With a deep breath in and out through his nose, Foxy was the one to follow through with the leader of their group's panicked request.

"Laddies, meet the Puppet... Puppet, meet our lads Chica and Freddy. Uh, Puppet here... seems to know everything about us. Even what happened when we were kids."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hm... What shall I say today...? I don't believe that there's anything for me to as of present. Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter and are continuing to read this, I guess?**

 **Anyways, I'd like to give a shoutout to "XxLibbyIsabelxX" for being the first to favorite and follow this story, and to "LunaMarionette" for being the first to review. Thanks, you guys! You rock.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER TWO: UNCOMFORTABLE ACQUAINTANCES  
LOCATION: FREDDY FAZBEAR'S PIZZA  
YEAR: 1987**

* * *

The air in the restroom was tense. Too tense for anyone's sense of mental serenity, save for the odd presence that lingered amongst the four crewmates who stood silently with their eyes mostly downcast at the slightly darkened white tiles of the floor. Foxy hadn't at all been bluffing; Freddy and Chica knew that, now... and at this point, having their collective past reiterated to them in explicit detail had put them all in a place that they never wanted to re-explore so vividly in their lives ever again. They could see it, feel it, and hear it all in such perfect clarity... such disturbing lucidity that nearly made them shudder with absolute horror and disgust. Meanwhile, that goddamned thing just stood there with its stupid pink-cheeked grin unchanging while it calmly turned its head from person to person in the area, seeming to make an extensive examination of their own facial features. It was always studying, always staring emptily at things. The colorful group resented it so very much. Always so placid, always so silent... always wearing that _same stupid smile._

"... Who the fuck are you." It had become more of a demand than it had an actual question, Freddy's normally composed blue eyes shifting up to look at the Puppet with a subtle intensity that quite closely rivaled Foxy's. He was completely seething on the inside, enraged that he had been subjected to having to revisit the nightmare which plagued him- along with the rest of his friends- so into depth that he would now never be able to forget every little thing. His nasal breathing became audibly shaky, and it even managed to grab the attention of Foxy, who was almost uncharacteristically doing his best to stay calm.

"Cap'n... It's alright."

"No it's not, Foxy," the brunette interjected sharply, standing up straight from the wall he had been leaning against to step directly in front of the foreign ubiety and square it off, ignoring the sizeable height difference and shooting it a glare intended to hammer the point home. But the Puppet didn't do so much as waver in any different direction; it simply remained where it was, its head tilted down so that it could match with the angle of the smaller man's gaze. "I want an answer from you. _Right now._ Who are you, and what do you want from us? Why do you know these things about us?" The only response Freddy received was utter silence. Like a statue, the figure stayed still, making no sort of sound nor movement as it looked down upon the lead stage performer. As though time itself had come to a momentary halt, it stayed this way for several long seconds before the brunette finally snapped, reaching out in one quick move and tightly gripping the Puppet's jacket in an effort to tug him down to his level. However, Freddy's arms only strained from his strength as he pulled with the energy in his biceps; its stance was almost completely rigid, barely having moved despite the former's best attempt to try and jar its solidity.

" _I ASKED YOU A GODDAMN QUESTION, AND YOU-_ " An unprecedented upward sweep of the Puppet's own arms underneath Freddy's sent him flying backward through the air and into the wall behind him, gasping in pain as his back collided hard into the flat surface before falling face-first onto the floor with an agonized cry. Chica fearfully exclaimed her friend's name as she rushed to his side while Foxy took an angered swing with his hook towards the stranger's back, which was very quickly cut short by a grip of his wrist that bent his arm back to the point where the bone connecting the two segments of it was on the verge of shattering right in the centre.

 **"Hold still, or I'll cut you in two."**

Foxy looked timorously up at the Puppet without being able to move a single part of his body; the threat was uttered so deeply and so immediately in a way that was very unlike the bizarre presence that the group had just come to know, instilling a sense of terror in him that he hadn't experienced in so long. Whatever this thing was... he knew right from the start that this was a force to be reckoned with, and this just made that fact go to show. As though to further emphasize the point, the Puppet pulled Foxy's arm towards him a little and then pushed it while letting go of it at the same time, sending the redhead soaring on a horizontal axis towards the wall close to the restroom's entryway before he descended back onto the ground in the same manner that Freddy had a few seconds earlier. The being then turned its attention to the band's leader who was getting helped up onto his feet by his blonde-haired friend by the shoulder, taking a few measured steps closer toward them before coming to a stop and then lowering itself on one knee to be a little closer to their own natural elevation. During all of this, Bonnie stood in utter stupefaction at everything he'd just witnessed, unwilling to be the next to fall victim to this creature's wrath. _I shouldn't have wished so much for that damned box to be open..._

"... My last existence. Taken away from me. Same person who... hurt you." The Puppet's speech became a little slower and more quiet in volume once more, shifting in tone between certain octaves while something reminiscent of white noise made itself heard in the time it which it spoke any words. "Few weeks ago. Child murdered in establishment's back room... I am that child. Woke up like this... New body. Talking feels funny. Saw things I didn't know before. Saw the same person who hurt me... hurting you all." Freddy stared quietly up at the being with a defeated and apologetic expression, very quickly recalling the story he'd read in the paper about a young kid who'd been murdered within that very same pizzeria where the four popularly performed. It had certainly done a number on the amount of business that the company was receiving, but apparently it had also done something more. This thing truly was something of a supernatural origin, apparently infused with the soul of a kid who had died an unfortunate death and somehow knowledgeable of events that it shouldn't have been conscious to in the first place. It was startling, and it still felt as though the manifestation had been invasive of the crew's own personal demons; but ultimately, it had gained Freddy's sympathy. At least he and the others had managed to escape death by the skin of their teeth.

The reincarnated kid who stood in front of them didn't.

"... I am sorry for hurting you."

"Whatever. It's fine," the brunette mumbled with a dismissive shake of his head. "I'm sorry about what happened to you." The Puppet hung about quietly in reply, soon placing itself back on both of its feet after a little while had gone by. More reticence ensued as Freddy stepped away from Chica and held himself steady, giving the atmosphere that encompassed them some time to cool off. It truly had become dolorous now that their predicament was better understood, and it seemed no one knew what to do or say to try and make things feel more weightless.

"... So does the staff know about what you are?" Chica decided to ask, looking timidly up at the being while it once again languidly swiveled its head to look at the person that it was meant to be speaking to.

"... No. They were making something. Thought that I was... mechanical. A working machine. Put me in a box and sent me here." Even more stiff repose. God, it really was perplexing as to why this needed to be so much harder than it really did... Just why was that so? Maybe it was a need for each of them to try and tie off loose ends, to come up with something that would have them all assured that they were linked via an unruffled coexistence? Probably. Even the Puppet seemed reluctant to leave the place just yet, as though striving to find the words that were buried deep in the back of its mind to try and seal off any openings it may have left on the front of whether or not it could be trusted not to be hostile. It always did appear to be pondering, and had mentioned that it felt odd for itself to talk. Perhaps that was it; it was trying to find a more extensive vocabulary that it had once been very meticulously accustomed to, to explain itself more in detail in opposition to the partially broken phrases that it employed to convey its meaning. A truly complex entity in its own right, one that was not truly human or otherwise, but more something that was a cross between both parallels.

It had been quite some time before the Puppet finally managed to do what it veritably sought to with the next sentence that it delivered.

"... I hope... that I can bring... all of you closure."

* * *

"What d'ya think he meant by that...? You know. When he said that he wanted to bring us 'closure', or whatever."  
"That 'he' could be a ' _she_ ' too, you know."  
"Let's just say 'it', then."  
"Eh. How would I know? That marionette thing is weird, to be honest... I'm not even sure how I feel about it, yet."

Chica kept herself focused on operating a joystick with her right hand and rapidly tapping a few buttons with the nimble fingers of her left, blissfully distracted by the arcade game in front of her while Bonnie leaned against one adjacent to it and watched her play away. A few minutes had ticked on since the Puppet finally returned to the box that it had arrived in, presumptively going there to rest itself. How it would manage to do that in such a cramped space was a real mystery to the group, but ultimately they made the accord to simply not dwell on the matter so much. In the grand scheme of things, it really wasn't important; at least the being was hypothetically capable of making itself fall asleep and giving the rest of them some space when they needed it. The blonde was especially unnerved by its abrupt presence here at their establishment... There was just something about it that made her feel so abashed, even when knowing that it was really just a kid trapped inside an unfamiliar framework. She didn't like it one bit, and hoped that maybe it was just an apparition devised by her sleep-deprived mind. Then again, everyone else had experienced the same thing, so this either had to be some sort of very elaborate dream or the whole ordeal had in fact taken place. The latter thought didn't make her feel like a halcyon kind of person in the slightest.

"... I just can't believe it knows everything."  
"Whatever, it didn't mean to hurt us. Let's just drop it and move on."  
"How can I just 'drop it', Bonnie? You think that if I could, I wouldn't have done it already?"  
"Look, Chica, I know how irritated this makes you, but-"

"Irritated?" Chica repeated incredulously, her head snapping towards her purple-haired companion with a rush of yellow hair following behind her. " _Irritated?_ On that day, I was _violated, b_ _eaten to a pulp,_ and you think remembering that makes me feel _irritated?!_ " Towards the end of her remark, she slammed her palm down hard against the surface of the arcade cabinet and sent a wild look in Bonnie's direction, causing him to take a step back in apprehension. "I had _everything_ taken away from me!"

"You know I didn't mean it like that-"  
"Shut up! Just _shut up!_ "

Tears were now glistening and burning up her eyes against the surface of her contacts, and her breathing became ragged and almost shrill between her teeth and through her throat. It was all just too much for her to handle, and she couldn't help but finally burst within the presence of one of the only few people that she was close to. Bonnie understood that well enough, so in the end he didn't at all feel taken aback when this happened. He simply made a moderate approach towards her, slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close for a firm but soothing hug. Unable to resist the embrace, Chica quickly broke down within his arms and began to sob hard into his shoulder while grasping tightly at her friend's dress shirt, her body trembling inadvertently from the force of her weeping. "Shh... It's okay. It's okay," the purple-haired boy whispered, gently stroking her back and also trailing his palm against the bottom ends of her locks of hair while doing so. Oh, if only life weren't so whimsically cruel to those who were the least deserving of it, then they all wouldn't have to be subjected to this living hell that they were forced to endure until their breaths fell short. They wouldn't have needed to become prisoners of their own minds...

And they wouldn't have needed to go through the further horror that awaited them past this point.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So, it's been exactly a month since the last time I updated this. Especially taking into consideration the recent release of Zajcu's new animation, it seems appropriate that I would choose this time to post another chapter, does it not? Anyway, here it is, as well as responses to the few additional reviews I got after posting the last chapter:**

 **Archenoid: Thank you, old friend! It's good to see that you're still around here.**

 **OppsieDasi: Yes, there is trauma indeed! There will be lots more of it to come in the future; it's a very pivotal part in making these characters more human, as well as tying it into the canonical incident in the games involving the murders of the five children in a way that logically fits with this story. It's a story of the forgotten, and I do not intend on leaving it simply as a "hit-and-miss" subplot never to be touched down on later on.**

 **FF Guest Mr G: Thank you so much! Glad to hear that you've been enjoying my writing. I apologize, but I don't plan on making any kind of Fate/Stay fanfiction; I'm not familiar with the source material (as of yet at least), and thus there is nothing for me to currently write about on that front.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER THREE: A MUTUAL CONFORMITY  
LOCATION: FREDDY FAZBEAR'S PIZZA  
YEAR: 1987**

* * *

"One at a time. Gifts for everyone."

Just as their odd new 'companion', Freddy was meant to be attending to the children present at the pizzeria along with the rest of his crew, but he couldn't help but take a little pause in his stride when he noticed how the Puppet was attending to its visitors over by the Prize Corner. With the unfocused voice pattern and the always-grinning mask that it wore, it was hard to gauge whether or not it had any patience with the mob that swarmed it in search of a plushie modeled after one of the famous band members; maybe he was being too judgemental, but the brunette just found it somewhat difficult to picture the being having any sort of desire to be social with the children, even though it itself had once been a living, breathing child in the flesh. Why did Freddy's eyes even happen to wander over to the thing if he didn't have any real care for it or want to associate with it? Was it a sentiment of pity lingering deep inside him? Or- a more easy conclusion for him to sit well with- was he feeling greatly distrusting of the entity? Either way, something about it seemed... off. It was an omnipresence beyond his present understanding, and he was admittedly afraid of what it could be capable of.

"Hey Freddy, sing a song for us!"  
"Yeah! Sing, Freddy! Sing!"

The brunette was finally broken out of his stupor when a small group of kids gathered around the Show Stage all requested at once for him to perform a song for them, prompting him to crack out one of his signature bright grins and break out into that low chuckle that gave authentic characterization and more origin to his last name. "Another song for 'ya, huh, folks?" Freddy inquired with his lips hovering in front of the cordless microphone held in his right hand. "Alrighty then, another song's comin' up! _Bonnie! Chica! Foxy!_ Are you ready to get this band rocking again?" From their places all around the restaurant, the voices of the cast members could be heard calling back out in reply, one after the other in the order of which they were addressed upon in perfect subsequence through years of practice.

"Ready, my man!"  
"Ready to roll, Freddy!"  
"Servin' a lad 'is pizza...! Alright, _ready!_ "

"All set? Then come on up here, _and let's give these kids a show!_ " Thunderous applause was heard all around as the children went to take their seats, eagerly awaiting the start of the performance while the Puppet was now left alone in its corner inside the box which it arrived in and now mostly resided in, watching silently from a distance as vibrant music began to echo against the inner walls of the building. _My... favorites._ In particular, the marionette gazed idly upon Freddy through the duration of the show; not because he was the lead vocalist, but because it took the most legitimate interest in him. Stereotypical, maybe, considering his role, but that didn't stop the being from indulging in that intrigue. It brought a familiar warmth to its chest, starting from somewhere near the centre and then spreading all throughout. It had always been a welcome pleasantry... always a welcome admiration. That's why...

 _"... I hope... that I can bring... all of you closure."_

Its first fluent-feeling sentence, despite all the strain it took into finding the words and making it feel fresh. Non-robotic. Unbroken. The Puppet hoped that with this form, it could do some good and maybe even find new friends in the Fazbear group, ignoring the time it would take to become fully adjusted to this new existence. They were all nice-looking people. It was sure that it could make common acquaintances in them.

Even it was something much further than comprehension itself.

* * *

"Oh, geez... I think I'm just about _ready_ to pass out," Bonnie slurred as he sluggishly approached a table in one of the party rooms, plopping down on a seat and placing his forehead against his folded arms while Chica followed behind with a sigh, sitting down beside him and doing almost the same thing with her chin propped up instead. "Yeah... Today was a busy day." Several long hours of providing continuous entertainment had passed before it was finally closing time for the establishment, leaving all the cast members to be by themselves and catch a much-needed break. Rest wouldn't come as easily as they would like, but they'd still be able to relax their minds for at least a little while before being subjected to the same routine day after day.

"... Yo. I hear that they're already planning on bringing in another person to work in the entertainment field," Bonnie managed to mumble, pulling the blonde's gaze over to his slumped form and also eliciting a soft chuckle from her.

"You always hear talk about everything. Do you know who it is?"  
"Don't know his actual name; only that he's been referred to as 'Balloon Boy'."  
"Hm. How colorful."  
"Yeah, not to mention that he's apparently gonna be a kid. Didn't know the staff was looking for young performers."  
"Mm... At least he won't be creepy like the other thing."  
"Hey, don't be so harsh. That 'thing' was a kid too, you know."

Chica simply heaved a breath through her nose to affirm her understanding, shifting her eyes so that she was staring right ahead of herself once more and submerging herself in her thoughts. It was hard for her to be anything resembling communicative outside of the gang or the children whom she performed with them for, and she was still quite sore about being reminded of the event which gave birth to that reclusiveness during the heated encounter that took place three nights ago. Now it was even more difficult to repress those unwanted memories, and to keep herself from bursting into tears at just about any given moment. She hated having to go through all this, and she hated no longer knowing where she was meant to be headed in life. There were all kinds of conflicting ideologies instilled in her that made her mind incredibly debilitated. She needed help, but she didn't quite know where to look. She didn't know if she even really wanted it, given her reluctance to speak to anyone in the outside world. She didn't quite know the answer to anything at all, anymore.

"... Chica?"  
"Hm?"  
"... Freddy came out and told me about what you said the other night. About running away from all this."  
"What'd he tell you that for?" Chica immediately asked pointedly, mildly irked that the brunette had gone ahead and done that without even letting her know first.

"Dunno. But listen. You should listen to him when he says that it's a bad idea. You know you wouldn't survive out there for any more than a couple of minutes." Chica sighed deeply when Bonnie said this to her.

"I have to try. I have to do some-"

"You don't have to do anything," Bonnie insisted firmly, now lifting up his head and resting it on an angle so that he could look directly at the blonde, his eyes reflecting the tone of voice that he had just used to speak to her. "Look. I know it's hard. It's been hard on all of us. Have you ever looked at Foxy? You're not the only one. The goddamn guy literally _scratches at the walls with that hook of his_ in his spare time. God knows what's running through his head. And Freddy... Well, when's the last time that you could ever find him by looking for him? You mostly only ever see him when _he_ wants to find you."

"What about you, then?"  
"Huh?"  
"What do you do, I mean. What happens to you?"

Bonnie opened his mouth for a second and then shut it, caught off guard by the sudden question and abruptly unsure of how to reply. He wasn't even the initial subject of this conversation, so how'd it get flipped over to him? It wasn't that he'd managed to let himself suffer so extremely as well, but... he also didn't want to let Chica know that he had mental problems every now and then. He didn't want her to know that he didn't take things so hard, either. She didn't need that kind of thing being on her conscience, in addition to her already busy brain.

"... That's not the point," he decided to say, his voice having lowered a little bit in volume. "My point is, it's not your fault for being able to do so little. There isn't anything you can do to change that. As bad as things are... it is what it is. This is what we've got, and we should be lucky that we're even still alive." He paused for another little bit, then continued. "You're needed _here,_ Chica. With all of us. We're in this together." There was silence as the blonde let her eyes burn red with moisture, the corner of her bottom lip quivering a little as she once more allowed herself another moment of vulnerability.

"... I know, Bonnie. I know." Remaining still for a few seconds while continuing to look at her, Bonnie then sat upright and reached out with his left hand to place it on her shoulder and give it a few soothing rubs, staring at her with an sympathetic-mannered gaze.

"You're like my little sis, you know? I don't know what the hell would happen if you left." That at least managed to bring a small smile to Chica's facial features as she nodded in reply, but then it soon dropped once more and she appeared to be a more empty kind of crestfallen, presumably dwelling on the validity of her friend's words.

"Yeah. Your annoying little sis."

* * *

"Oh, sh-!"

A clumsy fumbling of a mask modeled after a bear's head. An ominous flickering of lights. A brief plea. Pained screams. The sound of bone and flesh repeatedly meeting with the hard metal surface of a table. Everything all happened in such a short amount of time, and it wasn't long before the night security guard had been murdered right there in his seat by the top hat donning leader of the establishment's band. The act was committed all without a sound from him, all without either flinching or blinking. The movements just came to him, muscle memory that he didn't at all bother to resist. It now required much less effort for him to finish someone off unlike before, but he didn't mind the reduced suffering he inflicted upon his victims. He just wanted to stop the annoying noise that was their breathing from filling his ears. Once more, he had managed to do just that...

But he couldn't be left in silence for very long before he suddenly heard a faint yet ear-ringing melody which went to the tune of 'Pop! Goes the Weasel'.

"Ugh. What is it now," Freddy grumbled, turning around and walking the other way through the corridor leading out of the main office, passing by the room where two of his friends were unbeknownst to both sides and then taking a right turn into the Main Hall where he was cut off by that damned towering figure again, being stared down by two completely white orbs that had not been present in the mask's eye sockets before.

"... Get the hell out of my way."  
"The urge. You feel it too."  
"I said _out of my way,_ " Freddy growled, trying to move past the Puppet but having his arm grabbed and twisted up before he could take an additional step.

 **"Stop moving. I'm trying to help you."** Freddy bared his teeth and grunted in pain as his joint was bent in an uncomfortable direction, not snapped out of his trance but still relenting enough that he wouldn't be as aggressive as just a few moments earlier. Gradually relaxing his muscles and thereby giving the marionette the notion to release its grip, Freddy backed away a little and growled again as he forcefully adjusted the crumpled sleeve of his dress shirt. He never did like having a messy attire in any kind of case.

"... Sorry. Again. Let's talk about something else." The brunette pressed his lips together and felt his mental state easing a little further, watching as the mask's bright pupils slowly faded back into blackness and leaving the area more dimly illuminated. The being's speech patterns had improved rather quickly after spending just a bit of time around numerous youths and the Fazbear crew members, its sentence structure less and less shattered each time it spoke.

"Like what, exactly?"  
"Your performance. Enjoyable."

Freddy's expression faltered for a moment, unfamiliar with the praise that came from a source other than the business' target audience. They were simply given a regime to follow every week, without so much as the littlest commendation from their employers for all the work they put in to keep their customers satisfied and wanting evermore of their services. Now, to hear that support from something that couldn't even be classified as human... It struck a cord in him, made him ponder. He was very much surprised to be hearing this from the foreign figure.

"... T-Thank you, for that."  
"You are in pain. A lot of pain."  
"Yeah. I know."  
"You are a good person. You don't need to feel so bad."

"It's not that, Puppet..." Freddy replied shakily, averting his gaze downward and beginning to breathe with an unsteady pattern. "I... I..." Elongated fingers became outstretched to lie against the brunette's trembling shoulder, giving it a light squeeze and then staying in place a little more. "I know. I've seen it." Faltering breaths filled the otherwise silent air around them once more for a few moments as the Puppet paused, and then the blank was filled as it soon spoke again.

"I understand. You are not guilty for being... unable."

With that said, the Puppet then turned to leave and Freddy was on his lonesome once more, left to again be swallowed by the penumbra of the past.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I am so, _so terribly sorry_ for making you guys wait. It's been nearly half a year since I updated this, I know, and I honestly didn't expect this to happen. But I also would like you guys to understand that as of late, my life has been getting more and more clogged with things I have to take care of- namely with school- and that I haven't really had enough time or motivation to get back to writing anything at all as a result. I also find myself in some very dark places at times, but let it be known that I haven't forgotten about this, or about you guys. Thus, without further ado, here is the next chapter for "We're Still Here".**

 **REVIEW RESPONSES:**

 **FF Guest Woof: Really damn tall. I'm not going to get exact with numbers here, but on average I've imagined the principal characters (the original four) to be around their mid-five feet, whereas the Puppet is meant to be nearly seven feet tall.**

 **colbert2677: You know I will, man. Thanks for following through with all of my stories.**

 **Chippen Kitten: Don't you worry, I will! And I also intend for this to see an end, as well, so don't count on this being discontinued any time soon.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER FOUR: A PASSING WITH DEATH  
LOCATION: FREDDY FAZBEAR'S PIZZA  
YEAR: 1987**

* * *

An unearthly screeching sound emanated from a wall in one of the party rooms as the redhead's hook scraped violently against the concrete surface of it, etching a thin scratch with the curved piece of metal as he made his mark with a single vertical line. His exposed left eye idled on the sight of the ventilation opening at his feet, almost blank-looking but also subtly displaying some sense of purpose behind its gaze. An entry into the office was present right here, with a night guard lying in wait on the other side. It had only been a night ago since Freddy had killed the other one, and already a replacement was here... a replacement for more fresh blood to be drawn. Foxy was craving the sight of it, hungry for the feeling and the sound of flesh tearing and bone crunching underneath his tacked-on appendage. He wasn't in his right mind right now, having lapsed into the state of thought where his actions weren't of his own accord, but of an inexplicable force that compelled him to bring forth discord. He couldn't rest, couldn't be at peace. His grasp on mental settlement was slipping further and further away from him with every night that came to pass. He was simply unable to prevent it. Unable to be the character that the children clamored for, that they knew so well and loved so much.

For several seconds more he stood, surrounded more and more with an aura which pressed him to keep moving forward, and soon he lowered himself to one knee to be at level with the vent's opening... though before he was able to move any further than that point, a hand firmly clasped against his shoulder and prompted him to turn around to see who had come to bother him, graced with the sight of a familiar face.

"Hey. Rough night, huh?"  
"... Back away, Freddy. I have something to do."  
"Let's not be too hasty."  
"He's _dying._ "

Freddy flinched at the straightforwardness of his friend and the darkness in his tone that accompanied it, recognizing that this was another one of those times where he was submerged so deeply into his other persona that approaching him in a way which contrasted with his objective could result in particularly strong aggression. However, the brunette didn't intend to leave him alone just yet. He still wanted to try and calm him, to restore him to who he actually was even if it only lasted for a while. When he wasn't busy dealing with it himself, he hated to see his fellow crewmate become so apathetic and vicious, an ugly product of something incapable of being averted. He knew he had to do something, and not always sit by and let things be whenever the alterations rolled around. It was the very least he could do for the redhead... and for everyone else, wherever possible.

"... Foxy. Please. It'll only make things harder on yourself when you're done." Those cracks were still fresh in Freddy's mind from when he bashed the previous guard's head in so many times the previous night, serving to weigh heavily on his conscience in addition to all those other thoughts that drained him so completely until he at last surrendered control of himself. He knew how much it'd be the same for Foxy. "Let's just go join the others at the Show Stage and talk. Unwind. Get out everythi-"

"What of that isn't already things we already know, Freddy? There's no fixin' what we are, now. No point tryin' ta' be therapeutic about it."

"I never said there was a fix. But we can't let _this..._ " Freddy spoke, gesturing with his free hand toward the scratch Foxy had made for emphasis, "define us. We can't let this be who we are."

"Why can't we, _Cap'n?_ " Foxy retorted, spitting out the name with a venom that once again made Freddy flinch. "This already _is_ who we are, and ya' know it. We have to stop tryin' ta' deny that there's no goin' back to what once was. _This_ is us. _This_ is how we're gonna be livin' our lives forever, and there ain't a damn thing to do ta' change that."

"This was never our choice. We never decided that we were going to be like this, that we were just going to wander places unknowingly at night and kill other people that we see." Just saying the word "kill" took so much breath away from Freddy knowing that was something they had really done, and he had to swallow hard before he continued speaking. "We're not whole, but we can still make the most of the better stuff that's still left in ourselves, Foxy. And you know that." The redhead's ambition finally hit a stuttering point at Freddy's words, his expression wavering and showing that he was becoming more thoughtful about where he was and what he was doing.

"You're so good with the kids. They love you. They see you for the kind and outreaching person that you've always been, because you're still that person. You show it so well, because _that's_ you." A small, empathetic yet also sad smile pulled at the edges of the brunette's lips as he continued, pushing through with recovering Foxy and bringing him out of that toxic limbo that tried so hard to completely possess him like it did with the rest of them. If only it didn't exist for him... He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve the hardship that he was going through, when all his life he had been one of the best of people. A shining example of what could be if everyone was compassionate to each other.

"No one's ever going to take that away from you. Never."

Foxy's eye shifted towards the ground a moment, his lips parted and his muscles becoming more lax. There was a long moment of silence, of self-realization and of extensive contemplation. Eventually, he looked back up at his friend and pressed his lips into a line, inhaling and exhaling through his nose and then giving a soft nod of acceptance.

"Right. Still a pirate till the end." Not exactly the answer Freddy had in mind, but he'd take it anyway, chuckling with approval and nodding himself.

"That's the spirit... Now let's go. Don't want Bonnie and Chica to be bored for the night."

* * *

 _Something... feels... strange._

The next day as the crew went around attending to children waiting on their pizza, the Puppet had become a bit less responsive to others who were crowding it since it was so focused on the odd sensation which welled in the pit of its stomach. Somehow, it was just... there. Causing it to feel oddly cold and jittery, like something was amiss even though everything appeared to be alright. The tall figure couldn't comprehend why it was feeling this way, but it had grown a need to know why as the feeling persisted, refusing to go away and nag at its mind during every second that came to pass. _I am... unable to... make sense of this at all._

"Mr. Puppet! Mr. Puppet, I won the game! What prize do I get?"  
"Mr. Puppet, can I have my prize?"

"Hm...? Yes, little one. A prize for you."

"I want a prize too!"  
"Hey, I was here first!"  
"The bunny! _I want the bunny!_ "

The mess of high-pitched syllables being sounded off all at once became deafening for the Puppet to hear, its long-fingered grip gradually tightening against the bear plushie it held as it tried to filter out all the sounds from one another and hear them more distinguishably. But the voices only got louder, and soon, it snapped its whole body around in a blur of movement to face the screaming children and address them with a very different tone of voice:

 **"Hush now, children; you're being very loud."**

The huddled wave of kids became immediately silent and even backed away a bit at the figure's deepened inflection, a few of them wide-eyed but all of them no-doubt frightened to varied degrees of its change in mood. A few quiet seconds passed before it finally lowered the toy in its grasp towards the boy standing directly in front of it, looking him straight in the eye with those now suddenly terrifying-looking hollow sockets.

"Here. A prize for you."

Now if only it were able to deal with the qualm that still remained within it after having taken care of the noisy youth.

* * *

"New high score yet, Chica?"  
"Nah... Ugh; this damn game, I swear..."  
"Don't worry, you'll get there. Eventually."

Bonnie smiled to himself as he watched the blonde put her focus into the arcade game she was playing, sitting against one end of the Show Stage with his arms folded in his lap and his legs outstretched, his left one crossed over the other. It was amusing to see how into it she could get, how much she'd celebrate when she accomplished something and how upset she'd become whenever she lost at a certain point. She was far from being capable of being able to beat his own high score on it, but it was still fun to watch her progress as much as possible when he wasn't playing it for himself.

"'Eyo. Fazbear in the house."

"My man," the purple-haired boy responded, fist-bumping the brunette as he went to sit in front of him at the edge of the stage. "Finally here in the flesh. Never thought you'd be around for me to ask for your autograph."

"Well, you know me. Got a lot of fans to take care of." Both of them chuckled, letting the humor stay fresh in the air for a bit.

"How've you been, Bon? Doing alright?"  
"Pretty much, yeah. I mean, I get bored as hell, but... yeah, I've been fine."  
"Good to hear. And Chica?"  
"Also fine. How come you're asking me?"  
"Well, you two are pretty close together. And you're sitting closer to me. So I'd figure I'd ask you rather than Chica, who's all the way over there."  
"Hm. Fair enough."

For a moment, there was a pause between the two of them, both males watching the blonde continue with the game and exclaim things to herself as she went along with it.

"I'm kinda afraid of the next time she hits a 'low point', y'know."  
"Huh?"

"I dunno," Bonnie answered with a shrug. "It's just... she's going through enough shit already as it is. Luckily, she hasn't gone under for a while now, but because of that, I think things will be even worse for her once she does."

"I get it. You'll be able to handle it, though."  
"Though what if I can't? What if I happen to be going through the same thing at the same moment that she does?"  
"I can't say that won't happen, so I'm just going to tell you not to think about it."

Bonnie heaved a sigh, lowering his head and closing his eyes as he attempted right then to do what the brunette suggested and ignore the prospect of not being able to help out Chica when she entered a bad place. It was a very prominent thought in his mind, though, and wasn't something he could will away just like that if he wanted to. It seemed like she had been depending a lot on his guidance and support lately in order to avoid re-entering a switch of person, and if he wasn't there to do that when she would require it the most, how bad would it get for her? How severe would the effects be, both during and after what would have happened while she was no longer grounded?

"Look, Freddy. Just in case... I need-"  
 **"AAAAARRRGGHHHH!"**

A near ear-splitting scream abruptly rang throughout the room from somewhere in the Main Hall, causing everyone to whip their heads around rapidly in its direction upon recognizing the pained voice as Foxy's.

"The hell just happened?!" Bonnie inquired with a panicked voice, getting up to his feet and looking on with the others as they were given an alarming view. Foxy was now writhing against the floor, wheezing and gasping for air with his left hand clasped tightly over his chest, while a foreign individual who bore a disturbing resemblance to Freddy calmly strode past him towards the rest of the group. He had ruffled, straight dark-blonde hair which hung over both of his eyes underneath a black top hat, his similarly colored vest dirtied and the sleeves of his black undershirt partially torn in addition to black dress pants and dress shoes. None of the group had ever seen this man before, but one thing was already evident.

He was by no means a friend.

"Hey! The hell do you think you're doing, you son of a bitch?!" Bonnie shouted furiously as he worked quickly to close the distance between himself and the stranger, winding up his left fist and then extending it outward to land a blow against the latter's face. He was caught off guard in an instant, having his fist grabbed and his arm lifted up over the man's shoulder before it was brought back down against it in one forceful move. The connection of the two bones in the middle were brutally shattered as a result and his arm was twisted on an unnerving angle, causing Bonnie to cry out in extreme agony while stumbling backward before falling to the ground following a blow to his face which collapsed his left cheekbone.

" _BONNIE!_ "  
" _Chica, no!_ "

The blonde girl rushed toward the stranger in a flurry of anger and tackled him full on, getting up to her knees and managing to score in two hits before the man grabbed both of her fists and violently snapped them outward, breaking apart her wrist bones and bringing forth a shrill screech from her throat. After that, he pushed her off of him and left her to convulse terribly with uncontrollable sobs of distress as he slowly stood to his feet, facing the last person left standing as he too charged towards him.

"You crazy _fuck!_ " Before Freddy could even do anything, he was stumbling back and choking from the palm that was slammed into his throat, hunched over from a fist colliding into his right set of ribs then finally floored by a kick to his left knee. Deep and tortured groans filled the area for the next couple of seconds, and then... total silence befell it upon everyone becoming unconscious from their overwhelming physical suffering. Alone, the yellow-haired man stood, looking around him and taking his time with examining the scene that he had caused. He remained there for a while... taking it all in...

And then, without another word, he left in the same whisper that he'd arrived in.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So it's been a little over two months, and I'm back! I once again apologize for taking so long to update, but then again... at least I'm still updating this, right? I've finally regained the creative flair that I recently lost, and am ready to get back on track for another chapter of "We're Still Here". I ran through ideas for this chapter in my head multiple times attempting to figure out how best to let things play out, and I think I've finally come to a sequence of events that I'll be satisfied with for this chapter. Be warned, though: at the beginning, this chapter starts off particularly dark and may disturb some who aren't prepared to read graphically vivid descriptions. Aside from that, I hope you enjoy!**

 **REVIEW RESPONSES:**

 **FF Guest harambabe: Thank you! That choice of name though, haha.**

 **Chippen Kitten: Good to hear that you loved the previous chapter! I hope you'll love this one, as well!**

* * *

 **CHAPTER FIVE: SPECTRUM  
LOCATION: FREDDY FAZBEAR'S PIZZA  
YEAR: 1987**

* * *

"Has it been done?"

The yellow-suited figure leaned against a wall with his arms folded across his chest in an eerily empty room, illuminated by brief and dull flashes of light by a few faulty bulbs above. The voice which spoke to him was ghastly, yet tangible and with a clear inflection. It was as though it labored to speak, pained by sounding out words. By now, he'd been used to it. Conversing with this voice had become habitual, a pastime that had become completely normal for him. Regardless of its regularly bizarre nature.

"Of course it has. And I'm certain they'll be here- in this exact spot- very soon. Tossed aside like the castaways they already are." A deep chuckle echoed in his head, the voice's apparent mood very much contrasting with that of the idle male. His lips remained drawn in a thin line, his facial features just as impassive as his gaze. He didn't feel the need to feel glee; he simply had a job to do, and that job was now done. There was nothing else to it that he needed to indulge in. Not only that, but he still needed to stick around a while to _verify_ that what he'd set out to accomplish was indeed accomplished. He couldn't afford to have an oversight and depart without knowing that this was all behind him, that he finally didn't have to be so plagued by this retched mess and no longer even dwell on it for a second in his thoughts. He wanted absolution, not a favourable probability.

"... You ought to be more _happy._ "  
"No need for me to. Feeling like that is a waste of time."  
"It's a virtue. One which you seem to have forgotten entirely."  
"I don't care. I only want for this to be finished, nothing more than that."

The voice scoffed, not agitated but still disbelieving at his demeanor. What a hard-case he was. "Fine... If you insist." Then he was left alone, eaten up by what would otherwise be silence if not for the soft yet annoying hum of the bulbs in the ceiling. He was fine with that. Isolation allowed him to think. To reflect. To remember why exactly he was doing what he did.

* * *

"Ghh...! Gh."

Everything was cold. Uninvitingly dark, and hauntingly chilly. It was a horrid thing to wake up to, and Freddy hoped for a moment that the painful stiffness coiling itself around his muscles and bones was the product of a dream. As much as he wanted it to be, it wasn't. He didn't know where he was and he wanted to find that out, but there wasn't much that he could do about the resistance of his eyes to movement as they slowly cracked open to provide him with a clearer view of his new environment. He was slumped up against a wall, his legs outstretched and his hands resting in his lap, and when he looked around, he began to recognize where he was. The Parts & Service room was never a very well-maintained one, and the familiarity of that stung particularly hard now that he was stuck in one place and seemingly unable to get up to his feet. He had to find out how long he'd been asleep for, what had happened beforehand...

Then he remembered. His friends.

"Hnn... F-Fox...y...?" Freddy rasped, his vision focusing more to find that the very redhead in question was several feet away from him over on the other side of the room, still unconscious on his back with his hook hand lying on his chest. If only he could actually will himself to move so he could go check his friend's pulse... He felt so helpless right now in this moment, unrightfully so. He was their leader, their protector. It was his responsibility to-

"Agh... Ah... M-My hands..."

 _Oh no._

Freddy forced himself to crane his head to the left to look in the direction of the faltering voice and found his remaining two friends, one of whom was now awake and gasping for air as she looked down at her limp and unsightly hands. "My hands...! Oh God, my hands!" Chica was sobbing at this point, oblivious to the fact that the brunette was also awake and choking through her helpless cries. "My hands, my hands, my hands!" Had she had the energy to, she would have been shrieking. But it was already enough that she had to cope with physical weakness, shock and nausea at seeing what had become of her hands from the wrist down, so she could do no more than keep her voice at a slightly raised volume while exclaiming her pain. And Bonnie... Oh God, Bonnie. Freddy himself had to gulp down rising bile as he stared at the other man's left arm, a twisted mess from the centre down that was horrid to behold. That wasn't even the end of it. His left cheekbone was damaged so badly that the area of his face there was gruesomely indented, his flesh sagging and clinging to what was left inside all at the same time. Tears of grieving were starting to burn at the back of Freddy's eyes as Bonnie too woke up with a soft groan, soon to find out how injured he was.

The purple-haired male initially sputtered, finding that he couldn't quite get himself to say anything even partially coherent. Then he grimaced, no doubt feeling pain from even just the slightest shift of his body, and he turned his head to look at what his arm now was. The scream that pierced the already murky air was gut-wrenching enough that it even stirred the once deeply slumbering Foxy, who immediately woke up wheezing and giving hacking coughs. "Breathe... Can't breathe," the redhead managed to get out with the most painfully strangled-sounding voice, his legs feebly kicking out and his body tossing and turning as his left hand joined his right one's place on his chest.

"My arm! Goddamnit, **my arm!** " Bonnie yelled, a gasp of horror escaping him a few seconds later as he suddenly realized that something was wrong with the left side of his face, reaching up with his right hand to gingerly feel at the area. He screamed again- this time louder than the first time- and broke down completely, confused and frightened by the extensive wounds that had been inflicted upon his body. It was a cacophony of awful sounds, and Freddy could to nothing but listen to it all while quietly weeping, his chest aching immensely from it. What he came to more explicitly understand about his own condition in the following minutes was that his left leg was completely decommissioned, his windpipe had probably almost been crushed and his right ribcage had been broken in numerous places, making it difficult for him to make any noise at all much less move in any way, shape or form. For so many minutes, it didn't end. It was a living nightmare that they were all forced to endure for as long as they were awake, exhausting every single ounce of energy they had left on trying to endure through the suffering that had been brought upon them physically and psychologically. For so many minutes, that little room that they were trapped in became Hell on Earth. The establishment was so corrupt that it didn't even bother to lend a helping hand to the four; instead, they were left alone, closed off from the rest of society as they were abandoned all in states that would likely lead to eventual deaths. That wasn't fair. After everything they'd already been through, this wasn't fair.

And none of them could even wonder if that would be their last ever thought or not as eventually, finally, they all became too fatigued to keep themselves awake anymore, succumbing to renewed weakness that pulled them into a slumber that they might not have ever woken from.

* * *

The establishment shut down for almost two weeks, informing the public that they were encountering some internal difficulties and that they would be back up and running as soon as they could find a fix to those problems. The location became desolate, stagnant during long days where no one but four weak souls remained, quietly groaning out for anyone to help them. But no help came. None whatsoever. Even the Puppet was conspicuously absent, not ever having emerged from his box in the days gone by. It was mostly haunted silence. A silence that looked like it would never again be filled.

That was, until _they_ arrived.

* * *

"Oh my God, would you look at this place?! It's wonderful!"  
"Not so much wonderful as it is bland... and dare I say, appalling."

A blonde girl with her hair tied up in a single bun glared disapprovingly at her cyan-haired friend who simply shrugged indifferently as they continued wandering through the interior of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, followed closely by a tall pale girl with long silver hair that fell like a curtain over her back and face, a brunette man with a top hat and slightly big stature, and a small young boy with a colourful outfit that concluded a propeller hat which rested on his own brown-haired head. He wasn't any more than 12-years old.

"Oh come on, you have to look at the bright side of it," the blonde insisted while they all strode through the corridor with two party rooms on either side, "It's supposed to be playful and non-complicated for the kids who come here, remember?"

"That doesn't quite excuse the lack of variation. There's so much black and white in here that we may as well be looking at this place through a camera from 40's."

"There _is_ a lot of black and white in here," the boy chimed up with an innocent smile, which earned him a hush from the blonde.

"Don't encourage Bon-Bon."  
"See. When even BB's agreeing with me, there's a problem." The blonde let out an exasperated sigh as she peered into one of the rooms.

"I personally don't think this looks all that bad," the brunette stated with his naturally deep intonation, settling for the aesthetics of the building. "Could be a lot worse, if you ask me."

"Frederick, you almost _always_ think that. Your two-cents doesn't count."  
"The hell are you talking about? I thought I was the head of this band; my input should matter the most."  
"Not with it being so carefree, it doesn't."

The bigger man huffed with indignation as they all ventured further, happening upon a room with a currently unoccupied desk with a noisily running black fan. "I suppose this is... what, the office of the supposed guard that's meant to watch over this place at night?" Bon-Bon inquired. "I honestly can't tell if this is supposed to be cozy or unsettling for 'em."

"Maybe it's both," the blonde shrugged. "It can be both, right?"  
"Don't know, and I no longer care. Let's move on."  
"Yo, guys! Check it out; you can get in here through _vents!_ "  
"Fred, what are you- Fred, _NO._ Get out of there, now."

One tedious (albeit successful) effort later to get Frederick to not travel out of the office via the left ventilation shaft, the group headed back to the dining area and had a look around at the places they were told by their employers were the Game Area, Prize Corner and Kid's Cove. All in all, it didn't seem too bad of a place; they sure that the environment would be lightened up some when they actually got to interact with the children and such.

"Welp, I think I'm in need of a bathroom break, so I'm gonna split for a sec," Bon-Bon declared once they had finished with their self-tour, departing from the group with Frederick following behind him. "Same here. Wait up, dude."

"I think I'm gonna go real quick as well," the blonde said to the silver-haired girl, who'd been placid and completely quiet since the time they arrived at the pizzeria. It was a habit for her- to not talk very often at all- but that still didn't stop the others from looking to get her more involved in conversations. "You two will be okay, right?" The edges of the other girl's lips curled back ever so slightly to form a subtle smile as she nodded. "Yeah. We'll be fine," she replied, her voice light as a feather yet sounding like a pleasant melody.

"Okay, sounds good. BB, Melissa's going to watch you while we go to the bathroom, alright? _Behave._ "

"Don't worry," the young boy replied in an almost irritatingly sing-song voice with a wide grin to accompany it, earning another sigh from the blonde girl as she left for a quick break. He could be rather troublesome for them at times, and as much as they loved him, the group had grown to keep a close eye on him to make sure that he didn't go and do anything crazy. That was, when he wasn't spending his time being in their faces and bothering them for virtually no reason at all. That laugh of his... it gave all of them shivers just thinking about it. It would just last without end sometimes.

As the blonde went to go and enter the women's restroom, faintly hearing Bon-Bon and Fred talking with one another in the men's, she stopped and looked curiously across the hall at a spot that they all apparently overlooked. A plain sign reading "Parts & Service" was on the front of the door she was looking at, and after a few moments of staring blankly at it, curiosity got the better of her and she decided to take a quick detour. Tentatively grasping the knob and turning it to pull the door open, she peered inside to find that the room was poorly lit and seemingly empty. Though she didn't like the fact that it was mostly dark, she entered anyway with the door behind her partially open, having a look around at unused shelving and at first seeing nothing of interest. The scent of the air was strong, hanging over her like a thick blanket and making her body feel overwhelmed by it. Seeing nothing intriguing to look at, she shrugged a little to herself and turned to leave...

And that was when she saw it.

The next flash of light made her fully aware of the body which lay on the other side of the room, eliciting a sharp gasp and a jump from the blonde as she looked on with wide eyes, her hands clasped tightly over her mouth. His wild red hair and old-timey clothing were disheveled, and he lay sprawled out ungraciously on the tiled floor. And... was that a _hook_ on his hand? Was that a prosthetic, or a prop? Then there was another flash of light, and out of the corner of her eye, she noticed two more bodies slumped against the wall to her left. Those bodies were in _much_ worse shape, and looking at them made her feel sick to her stomach; one was a girl who looked very oddly like herself that had her hands twisted in odd directions while sat in her lap, and the other was a purple-haired boy whose left arm was contorted in horrid directions and whose face was horrifyingly collapsed on the left side. Backing away slowly with a whimper, she found herself brushing up against something and yelped as she turned to face the last body left in the room, who thankfully wasn't in any worse outer shape than the redhead or the boy and girl sitting across from the door.

What the hell was she looking at right now...? Were these people real? Were they dead? Were they asleep? The blonde had no idea, and decided that she didn't want to know, especially with how queasy she was already feeling. Hurrying out of the room and quietly but quickly closing the door shut, she rushed into the bathroom and tightly clutched a sink, attempting to will away the powerful urge to vomit right now. The grip she had turned her knuckles white and her head began to perspire with the strain of it, but eventually, she was able to regain her cool and not undesirably expel all of the contents in her stomach and then some.

"Yo, Cindy! You alright in there?" It was when she heard Frederick's voice outside the restroom that she realized that she had been taking too long, and she forced herself to take a deep breath before calling back out to her friend. "I'm okay! Just give me a few more minutes."

"Alright, then." Cindy imagined that the man was muttering something under his breath about women and their washroom breaks, but she didn't particularly care. What she had just seen was absolutely appalling, and she needed some time before she was able to tuck the gruesome imagery into the back of her head.

It was apparent, however, that she wouldn't be able to catch a break today when as she was finishing up with her actual bathroom break, she heard the panicked voices of both Fred and Bon-Bon shouting from somewhere around the dining area. For some reason, she could also now hear a faint melody from there that sounded like it was coming from a music box.

"Holy _shit!_ "  
"What the hell is that thing?!"

 _You've got to be kidding me,_ Cindy thought to herself with an inward sigh. Hurrying to wash her hands then regroup with her friends, she didn't make it that far inside before once again yelping and jumping on the spot, frightened by the sudden appearance of an incredibly tall figure who was clad almost in black and wore a mask with an unsettling visage carved into it. Was this all a sick prank conjured up by their employers, or did they accidentally wander into a horror attraction instead of a pizzeria?

 **"... You're not them."  
**

"Who? Who's 'them'?" Bon-Bon unsteadily inquired. The entity was apparently displeased with his lack of an actual answer, because immediately after Bon-Bon asked, it stepped out of the box it had once been situated in to close what little distance there was between itself and the two men. Melissa and BB remained by the entrance to the Kid's Cove, staring wordlessly in shock up at the new presence which brought itself out in the open.

 **"YOU'RE. NOT. _THEM._ "**

"Stop!" Cindy exclaimed fearfully, stopping the marionette as it reached out threateningly towards Bon-Bon and prompting it to look over at the blonde girl standing from afar. It said nothing though, communicating its desire to know what she wanted without using any words. "I... I saw four people in the Parts & Service room," she confessed, inciting confusion from everyone in the room as they wondered what she was talking about. "They're not moving, but..." She swallowed hard, unable to bring herself to recount the conditions that the four bodies were all in. "Are they... are they who you're looking for?" The Puppet was silent for several long seconds, slowly retracting its hand while its gaze stayed locked on Cindy. Then, in a blur of movement, it whisked past to go and enter the room in question, an air of urgency surrounding it as it went to go check up on those that it presumably knew.

"Jesus Christ, I thought we were gonna die," Fred muttered with a deep exhale, clasping a hand over his chest and feeling his heart thrum hard against his chest. Meanwhile, Bon-Bon looked with narrowed eyes towards Cindy as she approached her friends, bewildered by what she had said and wanting to gain clarification from her. "What did you mean when you said there were 'four people' in the Parts & Service room? As in...?" Again, Cindy swallowed hard and hesitated before answering.

"I meant four people. Like, _actual_ people. But I don't know if they're dead or alive, I just... they were..."

"Enough," Bonnie interjected with a sigh, coming to understand what she was saying and exhaustedly running his hands through his hair. "I'd say that we should report it to the authorities just in case, but I don't think we should be getting into any legal trouble before we've even spent our first day here. For all we know, it might get pinned to us." There was a wordless agreement amongst all of them (except for BB, who was still confused as to what was happening and who wouldn't get an explanation from Melissa), and they dispersed within the dining area to wind down from whatever craziness they had just experienced in a matter of only a few moments. Hopefully this was just a day-long thing... It would be hell if they were in fact getting more than what they signed up for at what at first glance seemed like no more than an ordinary pizzeria for kids to entertain themselves at.

* * *

 _... My... idol._

Friend had been the first word to cross its mind, but felt that perhaps it hadn't earned that respect from him and regressed to what he had been before it had become what it was now. The Puppet's fingers reached out gently to Freddy's resting face, its tips ghosting down his skin and coming to rest underneath his jawline. If he was still breathing, evidence of that could scarcely be seen. One more scan of its eyes out towards the rest of them confirmed that foul play of some kind had been involved, and all of them had been brutally assaulted while it was absent. How could it not have been aware of this sooner? Was that the cause of why it hadn't managed to feel their presence for the past little while? Knowing that the band was around nearby had always brought it out of its box, but this time when it awoke... it awoke to completely new faces, ones which resembled this crew to some degree but were ultimately very different.

"I'm so sorry," the Puppet murmured, its voice crackling more than usual with the words. This was beyond its power to control. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't save any of them, regardless if they were living or not. In truth, it hoped that they had all passed from existence; that way, they wouldn't have to live in suffering from the extensive bodily harm exacted upon them. Watching them all be in constant agony was the last thing it wanted to witness.

* * *

"Thank God they've got games and stuff in here that we can play... Now we don't have to die of boredom."

Bon-Bon exhaled through his nose in response as he rested his cheek against his fist, taking his turn to make a move on the black and white board laid out between himself and Frederick on one of the tables in front of the Show Stage. It was late at night now, and it seemed that no one except for BB and Melissa could sleep, so they did what they could while they were awake. While the two boys were playing chess, Cindy spent her time at one of the arcade consoles by the Game Area.

"I imagine the night guard that the staff mentioned is watching us now, right...? I haven't really been paying attention," Bon-Bon mumbled.  
"I think. Jeremy Fitzgerald was his name, right?"  
"Mhm. If he's anything like the guard they said was subbing in for him while he was sick, though, he's probably also going to disappear in no time."  
"Wait, who was the guy who subbed in for him?"  
"Why is that important to you...? I dunno, I think it was... something Smith. But again, not important."  
"Just curious, man."

Bon-Bon sighed, waiting for Fred to make his move. "This is gonna be hell. I can feel it already."

"Don't say that... Things might turn out great after this." The cyan-haired male looked up at his friend skeptically, an eyebrow raised as his fingers lightly grasped the top of a knight piece. "You think so?" he asked in a voice that was genuinely quizzical but came off as sarcastic. "Because the way I see it, these people might not be who they say they are, and we might be making a mistake by being here. I don't know about you, but with what we found today, I've got a bad feeling about what's going to happen in the days to come."

"Do you really want to leave now and continue travelling again? Looking for an audience to perform for and a place to stay?" Bon-Bon took a deep breath in and out, pondering on Fred's words. He was right, but the vibe that this establishment emanated... it already wasn't feeling good.

"We have to watch each other's backs more closely now, I think. For all we know, we might be up for things our employers didn't tell us whether we want to be or not."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Whoops. It's been over three months. Once again, my motivation stalled, but now I've got it back and am ready to deliver the next chapter to you guys. Hope you enjoy.**

 **REVIEW RESPONSES:**

 **FF Guest IT'S HIGh NOOOON: Thank you very much as usual, friendo. -insert forced wink here-**

 **Chippen Kitten: Haha. Bon-Bon is fully aware that he should call paramedics to have the matter investigated further; however, that's the exact problem. On the off-chance that the murder/assault of the original performers is pinned to his own crew, they'll be arrested then subsequently fired if they manage to get their names cleared, in order to keep customers from being driven away by the knowledge that the new group was accused of killing/maiming four people. Even if that wasn't the case, the pizzeria could also be shut down by order of criminal negligence (it's bad enough that the building is already the site of a murdered child- who is now the Puppet- and a supposed missing security guard who's actually also dead), thus also ejecting them from their jobs. In both scenarios, all of them would be laid off, and they can't afford for that to happen. Like the original performers, they're wanderers, people who have no place to go and no home to go back to. Bon-Bon isn't calling the paramedics because he's trying to protect his friends, not because he doesn't care about the people who could still be dying as he makes that decision in that very moment.**

* * *

 **QUICK INFORMATION ON SOME CHARACTER DETAILS:**

 **Freddy Fazbear: 20-years old, 5'9"  
Bonnie: 20-years old, 5'8"  
Chica: 19-years old, 5'4"  
Foxy: 18-years old, 5'8"**

 **The Puppet: No Known Age, 6'7"  
Frederick: 19-years old, 5'7"  
Bon-Bon: 20-years old, 5'10"  
Cindy: 18-years old, 5'9"  
Melissa: 19-years old, 6'1"  
Balloon Boy: 11-years old, 4'8"**

* * *

 **CHAPTER SIX: WORDS OF CATHARSIS  
LOCATION: FREDDY FAZBEAR'S PIZZA  
** **YEAR: 1987**

* * *

"It looks like your plan didn't work."

"I'm aware of that," the blonde man hissed at the voice in his head, standing in the midst of the badly injured band members in the Parts & Service room. He was seething. Incapacitating these four should have taken this establishment out of business, put it down for good. But, likewise to a cockroach, it simply refused to let up. They had somehow managed to find 5 individuals who would take the place of the initial Fazbear band, and the pizzeria would be resuming business as usual in a few days at the least. He couldn't do the same thing he had done before; the Puppet had been roused from its slumber, and he had no chance of taking it on. That inhuman being was too powerful for him to try that. "I'll have to think of something else."

"What pesky people. Brushing this under the rug and moving past it," the voice muttered with disdain. "Unsurprising. But appalling all the same."  
"I will not rest until this building is decommissioned, rest assured."  
"I know. I'm counting on that."

He had to be able to drive away these new performers somehow, ideally in a way that would not end up compromising himself. He couldn't afford for his presence to be known outside of this location. But how could he do that? How could he quietly go about disrupting the company's activities again?

Remaining in a deep state of thought for the next little while, the man's thoughts were suddenly disturbed by a low groaning noise beside him. The brunette was stirring, his voice feeble and rasping. The blonde felt a bit sorry for him as he watched him wake, his presence eventually noticed and greeted with disgust. He was expecting nothing less.

"You..."  
"Ah, you're awake. You're the one they call Freddy Fazbear, yes? Listen, I do apologize for all the trouble I caused eleven days ago-"  
"W-What...? Eleven...?"

"Yes, eleven days ago. I was not present in these premises during that time, so I assume you and your friends were unconscious during most of it." Freddy grimaced, his body visibly tensing for a moment before it went slack again.

"Did... you kill them?"  
"No. At least, I didn't try to; killing them was not my intention. I was looking to bring them _near_ death, not directly to it."  
"You're a fucking monster." The blonde lifted his hands as a sign of concession.

"I did what I felt was needed," he explained, lowering himself to one knee so that his face was level with Freddy's. "You see, this establishment that you work at is... well, rotten to the core. You yourself should know what a dark history it has behind it. You remember what happened ten years ago at that diner they had set up, yes? About the child that was murdered in this very building?" Freddy's expression changed, clearly pondering on the blonde's words. He looked to be slightly troubled, as well.

"Those were not the fault of the owners."

"Then how about what's happened to you now?" the blonde inquired. "I come along unnoticed, beat you and your friends to a pulp, and over a week later, no law enforcement has found you, nor has this place been shut down." Freddy said nothing, disbelief etched into his features. He remembered how long the man said they were here for: eleven days. Eleven days had gone by, and the four of them hadn't even been moved from their spot.

"You see, what I did was not the best way of handling things, but even then, now I can prove this point to you," the blonde continued. "That the people who run this place don't care about you. They don't care about anyone. They're just looking to line their pockets with as much cash as they can get out of gullible parents and kids. How is that something you and your friends can condone, hm?" Freddy remained speechless, looking bitter as he listened. "Not a word was said about what happened to you, and now they have new people replacing you on that stage. All so they can keep their lovely shitshow running."

"How could they?"

"They have. You don't know it right now, but they have," the blonde affirmed. "They were never looking to protect you." There was a long silence as the two males held each other's gazes. Then, Freddy broke it.

"You're Fredbear." The blonde flinched, scowling at the name he had been called by. "You were a performer at the diner."  
"Gibson," he corrected, ignoring Freddy's other comment. "My name is Gibson. I am not Fredbear anymore."  
"What happened to make you hate the company so much...?"

"The story is not important," Gibson interjected sharply. "What's important is that I want this establishment dead. Its name tarnished and eventually forgotten. It doesn't deserve to be a place where kids go to enjoy themselves."

"I am not helping you," Freddy growled, using what little strength he had in his body to lean closer to Gibson and make his stance clear. "You are an absolute psychopath. You're... not the man I looked... up to ten years ago." Gibson remained in place, unmoving for several seconds. Then he smirked, scoffed, and rose to his feet.

"We'll see how long you want to sit out for. I can see it in your eyes, the resentment for the people in charge of all this. The people who kept you locked away and denied you aid when you needed it. In time... you'll want them gone, too." He turned away and left the room, leaving Freddy alone with his thoughts. He didn't want to face that possibility, the prospect of what he could become if he acted on that impulse. The underlying urge to leave the company in ruins. Would he be able to live with himself afterwards?

"He's... right, Captain," a familiar voice managed to gasp out. Turning his head, Freddy's gaze fell upon Foxy as he broke out into a coughing fit, propping himself up against the wall behind him with a labored exhale. His left eye was raised to look at his friend. "They have... done nothin' good for us in all the years that we've been serving 'em. They left us here ta' die. Why would we... keep fightin' for people like that?"

"But they're not the ones who hurt us, Foxy," Freddy argued. "It was him... That man in the yellow suit."

"He did it ta' show us that anything could have happened to us, and they would do fuck-all about it if it meant savin' their own asses, which they _are_ doin' now. Those are not people you defend, Cap'n. You rip 'em from their high horses."

"Look at what he did to you, Foxy," Freddy practically sobbed. "At what he did to all of us. That's not right."

"If what was done to us was tha' price of really seeing that... it's a price I willingly will pay." Freddy was dumbstruck, not even noticing the anguish-wrought tears in his eyes until they were streaking the skin of his cheeks. Even Foxy, his closest friend, believed that this was a necessary evil. That they had to commit necessary evils in order to set things right.

It was all too horrific for him to handle.

* * *

"Melissa?"  
"The hell is going on...?"

Having rolled into the back of her skull, the whites of the silver-haired girl's eyes were the only part that could be seen of them as her the right side of her head rubbed up against one of the walls by the game area, garbled noises escaping from her throat past her parted lips and her body convulsing uncontrollably. Now all aware that something was wrong, the rest of the group looked on in horror, unsure of how to help her.

"Melissa, say something to us!" Bon-Bon urged, grabbing her by the shoulders and moving her away from the wall. Almost instantly, she dropped to her knees and slipped out of his grasp as she fell against her left side, continuing to spasm and choke. Turning to the rest of his friends, the cyan-haired male asked, "The night watchman is here, right?"

"Yeah, he entered the building not too long ago," Frederick replied.  
"Go get him, right now. We need his help."  
"Gotcha."

"Oh my God, what's happening to her?" Cindy asked with distress. Her breaths then started getting louder in volume, swallowing hard and grasping at her chest with her hand.

"I don't know, I've got no- Cindy? Cindy?!" The blonde had fallen to her knees, the fingernails of her right hand digging harshly into her yellow polo shirt while those of her left scratched at the floor. Hunching over, a pained scream escaped her. "Fucking hell, what is going on?!" Bon-Bon exclaimed, beginning to panic.

There was even something wrong with Balloon Boy, who stood frozen in place without any expression present on his face.

By the Main Hall, Frederick began to stumble in his step and was forced to lean against the wall to his left to support himself. He gasped for the breath that had been stolen from his lungs without warning, hearing a deafening ring in his ears and feeling a buzzing in his head.

 _Kill him._

He screamed as the awful amalgamation of sounds and sensations assaulted his being, clapping his hands against his ears in a fruitless attempt to drown it all out. There was a ghastly voice which uttered awful things to him, threatening to rip his sanity away from him right then and there. He writhed against the wall, sliding down into a sitting position and rocking back and forth against the floor. He thought a flashlight beam shone on him at one point, but he didn't know for sure. All he knew was suffering, white-hot suffering that seemed never-ending... then began to calm itself.

Back in the dining area, Bon-Bon coughed and sputtered gently as he lay on his back, having also succumbed to whatever unseen force had afflicted everyone else and now slowly recovering from the worst of it. His mind had become empty of everything but a direction. A purpose. A disposition which demanded that it be fulfilled. It had happened to all of them. They shared that same sway, that one desire to carry out.

In the Prize Corner, the lid of the blue box popped open and a gloved hand gripped its edge from the inside, with the lilting instrumental tune of "Pop! Goes the Weasel" beginning to play.

* * *

"Agh, shit...!"

Squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth, Jeremy pressed his hands tight against his ears, perturbed by the shrill screeching sound of something scraping against the wall to his left in the hall in front of him. "Fucking hell, what is that...?" The moment the screeching stopped, he picked up his flashlight and shone it in front of him. There in the centre of the corridor stood the bigger man who he had just seen and heard screaming on the floor moments earlier, and someone new standing a few feet behind him: a thin, silver-haired girl whose head was resting against the wall next to her and whose pale green eyes were hauntingly dull, just like the man's were. She had been the cause of that cursed noise, he presumed... Not even a night had passed, yet the new performers he'd been told about were already on his ass as well. Either this was some sick joke conjured up by them and his employers, or the building was legitimately cursed. Nothing else but those two possibilities could explain why they had the exact same fits of erratic behaviour that the original cast members had.

"I don't get paid nearly enough for this damn job," Jeremy sighed as he put down the flashlight and picked up his tablet, cycling through the camera feeds to locate where the other performers were and finding that a blonde girl and blue-haired boy were each lingering in their own party room, staring at their respective cameras. When he checked the Prize Corner, a chilling realization set in and his heart felt like it was going to leap out of his chest. "Oh, shit. Shit. _Shit._ " That fucking marionette thing was _missing._ He hadn't managed to activate the restraining mechanism in its box in time. And now it was going to come for him.

"Hi."

Jeremy's head snapped to the left ventilation shaft, rolling his chair closer to it so he could reach the light button and hitting it to see who was in there. Greeting him was the face of a young boy with sapphire-blue eyes and a wide toothy grin, a yellow balloon with a single red stripe held in one hand with a sign saying "Balloons!" in the other. He was incredibly unsettling to look at, and he couldn't quite decide whether it was because of the unusual vibrancy of his eyes or his also unusual grin.

"Jesus Christ," the man muttered to himself, reaching behind him to grab the bear mask on his desk and put it on his head. He never knew why this acted as a defense against the crazed performers from before, but according to the staff, it made them see him as a mascot- one of them- and took away their desire to harm him. The explanation didn't make it any less weird, but his use of the mask had become instinctual nonetheless.

After a few seconds, Jeremy could hear thumping from the vent which signalled that the boy had left, and he rolled back to his desk as he took off the mask. "Now, let's see where-" The moment he brought his tablet back up, he could hear rapidly approaching footsteps coming from down the hall, and he scrambled to turn on the flashlight only to realize that it had been jammed. "Son of a fucking-!" When he looked back up at the hallway, his blood ran cold when he saw two small white pupils located close to the ceiling, realizing that what was approaching him was one of the two beings that the mask could not fool. His panicked throw of the flashlight did nothing to stop it; the torch bounced off the Puppet's mask with a harmless _clank_ as it moved toward him, reaching out and locking its fingers around the collar of his shirt. Crossing its hands and crossing the fabric of the clothing with them, Jeremy felt the airflow in his windpipe being forcefully cut off as he was viciously strangled, his fingers clutching at the Puppet's sleeves and holding on for dear life. There was no way he was going to live through this. After all this time, of all the ways to die, he was going to be killed slowly and painfully by this circus freak. And no one would ever even know what happened. His vision went hazy with black spots as the seconds ticked by, the agony too much for him to bear. Hopefully, it wouldn't be much longer before it ended.

"No! Stop it!"

A pair of arms wrapped around the Puppet's torso and yanked, tearing the Puppet's grip away from Jeremy's collar and releasing him from the brutal chokehold. Taking in a large gulp of air, he leaned forward against the desk and coughed violently while his vision gradually cleared up. When he looked back up, he saw that the now angrily snarling Puppet was being pulled away from him by the blonde girl he saw earlier on CAM 03, who had seemingly broken out of her fit early and had now saved his life in an unexpected turn of events. The girl was even elbowed in the face by the being and got a bloody nose for her trouble, but she kept on fighting, dragging him further and further away from him.

"... After this... I'm gonna need a drink," Jeremy muttered, breathing heavily as he sat back in his chair. "A really... _really_ strong drink."

* * *

"Stop! It's okay. It's okay, just... Stop! It's okay!"

The Puppet kept trying to push on past Cindy as she kept it at bay by the entrance to the Main Hall. She was now facing towards it, her hands planted firmly against its chest to keep it from moving beyond her. Eventually, its movements finally slowed to a halt, its head craned down to look at the girl in front of him. The white in its sockets faded to nothing and it came down on one knee, its arms sliding around her waist and bringing her close in an apologetic hug.

"I'm sorry," it whispered, as Cindy found it in her to softly pat and rub the figure's back with her hand. "So sorry. Did not mean to hurt you."

"You didn't hurt me. It's fine... It's okay." She herself was still reeling from whatever she had just experienced, doing her best to be calm for the sake of the entity before herself. She had heard voices, moved from one place to another beyond her apparent control... She had no idea what came over her. Was that what was happening to Melissa? Had every one of them been going through that experience? The thought of having her conscience ripped away, of it being replaced by something so much darker in nature... it unnerved her. She didn't even know something like that could happen to someone. Unbeknownst to her, that was something that had been left behind by her predecessors.

The hatred of those who watched them.


End file.
